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The update of Cycling by Design has been completed, led by representatives of Transport Scotland, Sustrans and local authorities working in partnership. The scheduled publication date is week commencing 13 September which will be during Scotland’s Climate Week.

All planning applications are required to be determined in accordance with the relevant development plan unless material planning considerations justify a departure from the development plan.

Whilst it is for decision makers to decide what considerations are material to, and what weight to attach to each consideration in, the determination of a planning application, Scottish Government Planning Policy is a significant material consideration in the planning system.

Currently, our National Planning Framework 3 and Scottish Planning Policy aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and facilitate adaptation to climate change. Responding to the global climate emergency is at the heart of the preparation of National Planning Framework 4, that we will lay in Parliament and consult on widely this autumn.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Tayside have concluded agreements to buyout the PFI car park contracts for the Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, respectively. As a result, these car parks have now come under the direct control of the NHS and the Scottish Government’s policy of free hospital car parking for patients, staff and visitors will continue to apply.

Negotiations for NHS Lothian to buyout the PFI car park contract for the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh are at an advanced stage with an agreement expected to be reached in the coming months. Car parking charges there remain suspended as a result of an arrangement reached with the PFI operator in March 2020 and the Scottish Government does not expect them to be reintroduced.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-36237 on 24 March 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The answer refers to funding for low or zero carbon road transport. It does not cover funding for areas such as active travel.

Since 2016 we have awarded £12.3m of funding for low carbon transport projects through initiatives such as the Local Authority Installation Programme, Switched on Towns and Cities, Switched on Fleets and our Low Carbon Travel and Transport Programme. Funds have been awarded to Dundee City Council and other organisations across the public and private sectors, such as Xplore Dundee who were awarded £1.9m of funding this year through the Scottish Low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS) for the purchase of 12 ultra-low emission busses and the associated infrastructure.

Scottish Government is also working in partnership with the seven Scottish cities through the Scottish Cities Alliance (SCA) to support its decarbonisation ambitions. Dundee are working with Transport Scotland on the transport element of this transition, focused on the switchover to zero-emission city fleets and public transport. Scottish Government are working closely with all City partners, including Dundee, on a Funding and Investment Strategy for Net Zero.

The breakdown of funding since financial year 2015-2016 is as follows

2015-2016 - £214,715

2016-2017 - £202,871

2017-2018 - £73,455

2018-2019 - £1,995,736

2019-2020 - £6,761,349

2020-2021 - £3,053,353

Total - £12,301,479

We will continue to support opportunities to capitalise on these and future investments, growing the local and wider Scottish economy, creating quality and lasting employment opportunities across Scotland and supported by ongoing developments around the impressive and strategically important Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc (MSIP) site where innovation in low carbon transport solutions, particularly in hydrogen, is emerging as a speciality. This builds on £3 million of funding provided by Transport Scotland in 2019 to Dundee City Council to support hydrogen project activities.

Student support funding provided to further education students at Dundee and Angus College:

The Scottish Government has provided a total of £1,464,000 of active travel funding to Dundee City Council since April 2016. We are aware that the area has been in receipt of an additional £7,312,839 through Government funded active travel programmes delivered by partners.

The Scottish Government has provided a combined total of over £1 billion to support communities through the pandemic. This includes more than £550 million delivered through the Communities Funding Package. This investment has been allocated across councils, local services and directly to community and third sector organisations for a range of initiatives supporting those in need.

Investment for community groups and third sector organisations working locally in our communities has been delivered through a range of funds including the Third Sector Resilience Fund, Wellbeing Fund, Supporting Communities Fund and the Community and Third Sector Recovery Programme, which is being supported with a further £14 million in 2021-22. Details of these programmes and the type of support they delivered are available on the SCVO website at Coronavirus Third Sector Information Hub – SCVO . Scottish Government worked with SCVO to develop the Coronavirus Third Sector Information Hub supporting community groups with a single point of access for information and guidance about the pandemic and the funding available.

Further information on the distribution of the investment delivered through the Community Funding Package is available on the Community Mapping tool at: Community Funding Mapping (arcgis.com)

This additional investment has been made over and above the existing programmes supporting community-led regeneration and support for the third sector including the Empowering Communities Programme and the new £30 million Third Sector Growth Fund, announced on 21 March. The Investing in Communities Fund, part of the Empowering Communities Programme has provided essential flexibility for organisations throughout the pandemic to meet the needs of their communities and will continue to support community groups as we emerge and recover. It enables communities to decide on their own terms how to address local challenges, supporting community engagement, participation and empowerment for example through Participatory Budgeting. The Third Sector Growth Fund will focus on those organisations with the potential to grow, contributing to jobs and making a positive contribution in our communities as we go into a period of recovery.

Our Place Based Investment Programme will build on the strong partnership approach of the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund and the Town Centre Fund supported with £325 million over the next five years. This capital programme will be a key mechanism in tackling inequality and disadvantage and supporting renewal and recovery in our communities. The Programme, working with COSLA and Local Authorities, will contribute to delivering our joint ambitions for net zero, wellbeing and inclusive economic development, 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, town centres, the place principle, and community involvement and ownership.

On 18 March, the COSLA President and I issued a joint statement on progress with the Local Governance Review. The statement is accompanied by new Democracy Matters material. This outlines how ambitious new community decision-making arrangements, with potentially significant powers and resources, could work in practice.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/local-governance-review-joint-statement-2/

In 2020-2021 we have invested the following funding to drugs services and projects in Dundee:

• £4,366,586 to NHS Tayside covering Dundee, Perth and Kinross and Angus to support the delivery of alcohol and drug services
• £498,274 to Dundee City from the Programme for Government Local Improvement Fund
• £256,859 to Dundee City from the Programme for Government to support the 6 priorities of the Drug Deaths Taskforce
• £256,859 to Dundee based projects delivered by third-sector organisations through the Programme for Government challenge fund
• £153,980 to Dundee Alcohol and Drug Partnership from the additional £5 million funding announced for this financial year by the First Minister
• £130,764 to the University of Dundee from the Drugs Deaths Taskforce Research Fund

We have declared that a national mission is required to tackle drug-related death and have committed additional funding of £50 million per year over the next session of parliament.

Details of funding to NHS Boards can be found here - https://www.gov.scot/publications/alcohol-and-drug-partnerships-funding-allocations/

Details of Dundee’s additional Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) allocation can be found here - Alcohol and drug partnerships: additional funding 2020-2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)